If you are like me, you feel like we just celebrated Lease Sale 258 in Lower Cook Inlet being taken off the table. Unfortunately, as many of you are only too familiar with, we are again facing a proposed lease sale in Lower Cook Inlet.
President Biden and the Department of Interior proposed a five-year plan for more offshore oil and gas leases in federal waters from 2023 through 2028. The plan includes 10 proposed lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one proposed lease sale in Lower Cook Inlet.
If you are disappointed or frustrated, we are with you and share that sentiment. But this is another chance to weigh in and tell the Administration what we want for Lower Cook Inlet. In fact, the Administration specifically requests the public to weigh in on the future of our federal waters and how our livelihoods will be affected by oil and gas lease sales in Lower Cook Inlet. The agency would like to hear from commercial, subsistence and sport fishermen, business owners, Alaskan Natives, Alaskans, and those who appreciate visiting our incredible home.
What is your vision for the future for Lower Cook Inlet? Do you see drilling rigs, oil spills, and corroding underwater pipelines? Or do you see generations of fishing with clean water and healthy fish?
Inletkeeper believes that we should not only be asking for no lease sales in Lower Cook Inlet, but also that the Administration should permanently withdraw Cook Inlet from future five-year plans.
Now is the time (again) for you to weigh in. Add your voice here. You can also share our petition with friends: inletkeeper.org/5yp
Virtual hearings are scheduled in late August (times in AK Standard Time). You can register for those meetings here.
Tuesday, Aug 23, 12:00 – 3:00 pm
Thursday, Aug 25, 1: 00 – 4:00 pm
Monday, Aug 29, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
Wednesday, Aug 31, 4:00 – 7:00 pm
Of course, you can also draft your own more detailed comments. We will be sharing talking points over the next week or if you would like any help with comments please reach out!
And as always if signing petitions, testifying, or drafting comments is not how you want to advocate against proposed sales, please reach out! There are so many different ways you can contribute to this fight. We’d love to help you use your natural gifts to stand up for Cook Inlet and our communities (and be as creative as you want).
Offshore drilling is political theatre, not an energy solution
As the Cook Inlet gas we’ve historically relied on for heat and electricity becomes more expensive and precarious, the Trump administration is offering a golden chance to prolong our dependence, spend more on energy, and create a long-term drag on our economy by doubling down on what isn’t working. What’s the price of this opportunity? Only a 1-in-5 risk of major oil spills, which increases with each new piece of extraction infrastructure. The art of the deal!
Not interested? Well, it’s your lucky day. BOEM is signing you up anyway.